Rod supports

ABSTRACT

A fisherman&#39;&#39;s rod support has a hermetically-sealed telescopic boom connected to a post by an adjustable mounting. The post has a profiled plate cross member towards its pointed lower end to facilitate secure erection. The adjustable mounting includes a mounting shaft adjustably secured to the post by a first clamp member and the boom is carried by a second clamp member journalled on said shaft. Both clamp members are controlled by a common actuating member.

United States Patent [191 Jester 1 1 Aug. 27, 1974 1 ROD SUPPORTS [75] Inventor: William Frederick Jester, Solihull,

England [73] Assignee: lnc0l Presswork Limited, Rickenhill,

Solihull, Warwickshire, England [22] Filed: Mar. 7, 1972 [21] Appl. No: 232,572

[52] US. Cl. 248/44 [51] Int. C11 ..A01k 97/10 [58] Field Of Search 248/38, 40, 41, 42, 44, 248/156; 52/165 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 369,971 9/1887 Stillman 248/40 2,176,352 10/1939 McHuron 248/42 2,908,460 10/1959 Townsend ct a1 248/40 3,066,769 12/1962 Pasquale 248/156 X 3,198,465 8/1965 Sutton 248/156 X 3,341,157 9/1967 Duncan 248/42 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 447,701 3/1968 Switzerland 248/42 Primary ExaminerWil1iam H. Schultz Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Markva & Smith [5 7] ABSTRACT A fishermans rod support has a hermetically-sealed telescopic boom connected to a post by an adjustable mounting. The post has a profiled plate cross member towards its pointed lower end to facilitate secure erection. The adjustable mounting includes a mounting shaft adjustably secured to the post by a first clamp member and the boom is carried by a second clamp member journalled on said shaft. Both clamp members are controlled by a common actuating member.

7 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures ROD SUPPORTS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention concerns rod supports for use in supporting fishermens rods.

Simple supports, such as crotches, are known, but while they are of utility they lack versatility. More versatile supports have been proposed, but such supports are often complex, require a lot of setting up, and are sometimes unreliable.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved rod support.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with one feature of a preferred embodiment of the invention, a rod support comprises an adjustable mounting which connects a boom to a post, said adjustable mounting having a first clamp member through which passes a mounting shaft. A second clamp member is located about the mounting shaft between the first clamp member and a clamping head of the mounting shaft. An actuating member threadably engages a threaded end of the mounting shaft, whereby, in use, causes the clamp members to engage and hold said boom and post more tightly as the clamping head is drawn towards the actuating member by rotation of the latter.

More specifically, in one aspect, the invention provides a fishermans rod support comprising a post adapted to be erected in an upstanding position, a boom, rod rest and locating means carried by said boom, and an adjustable mounting connecting said boom to said post. The adjustable mounting includes a mounting shaft, first and second clamp members, and an actuating member. The mounting shaft has a threaded portion and, spaced from the threaded portion, a clamping head fits upon the post so that the mounting shaft projects laterally therefrom and cooperates with said first clamp member to hold the mounting shaft in adjusted position on said post. The second clamp member is journalled on the mounting shaft intermediate the clamping head and the threaded portion and serves to hold and support the boom on the mounting shaft. The actuating member threadably engages said threaded portion so as to be operable, upon rotation, selectively to increase or decrease gripping interengagement of the aforesaid component parts of the adjustable mounting thereby to enable the angular elevation of the boom and height of the mounting on the post to be adjusted and set as required.

The actuating member is preferably a large knob shaped so as to be easily gripped by a gloved hand.

In accordance with another feature of a preferred embodiment of the invention, a rod support comprises a boom adjustably mounted on a post, said post having a pointed end for insertion into the ground and near to the pointed end a longitudinally-extending transverse plate or cross member which enables the post either to be firmly driven into the ground or secured by fasteners to a fixed mounting.

The plate or cross member preferably tapers in width, to a point or minimum, towards the pointed end of the post, and at the other end, the plate or cross member is preferably flanged to provide foot abutments.

In accordance with a third feature of a preferred embodiment of the invention, a fishiermans rod support comprises a telescopic boom, said boom having a main tube with a handle at one end, an extension tube which is slidably located in the main tube, a resilient sleeve at the junction of these tubes, and plugs or like means to close or obstruct the ends of the boom so that there is pneumatic resistance to change of length of the boom.

A resilient rod fork or other rod locator may serve also to close or obstruct one end of the boom, and the handle may close or obstruct the other end.

The rod support of the invention may further comprise a retractable locator, for the butt of a fishing rod, which is secured, preferably by a clamp, to the post or boom, adjacent the junction thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS The invention will be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a typicalfishermans rod support constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of an adjustable mounting of the rod support; and

FIG. 3 is a small scale side elevation showing, diagrammatically, the rod support in use.

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, the rod support illustrated therein comprises a boom 10 secured by an adjustable mounting 11 upon a post 12.

The boom 10 is telescopic and comprises a main tube 13, an extension tube 14 of lesser diameter and thickness than the main tube 13, a stepped sleeve 15 of plastics or rubber shrouding and sealing the junction of the tubes 13 and 14, a forked resilient rod rest and locator 16 which closes the extreme end of the extension tube 14, and a handle 17 which closes the end of the main tube 13 adjacent the mounting 11.

The adjustable mounting l 1 comprises a clamp member 20, formed of resilient sheet metal, which provides a split collar embracingly engaging the main tube 13 and a cross bore through spaced apart laterally projecting limbs 21, 21, in which is journalled a mounting shaft 22, and a stop clamp member 23 comprising a tubular sleeve surrounding a clamping head portion 24 of the mounting shaft 22. The stop clamp member 23 and head 24 are apertured to provide normally co-axial transverse bores to receive and accommodate the post 12 so that the mounting shaft 22 projects laterally therefrom. A knob 25, constituting an actuating mem ber, is provided to engage a screw threaded end portion 26 of the shaft 22, and a washer 27 is provided between the knob and the member 20.

As shown, clamp member 23 has, at its one end, an axially projecting frustro-conical protrusion which locates in abutting engagement with a countersunk recess 81 of the cross bore through the adjacent limb 21 of clamp member 20, thereby controlling the point of application of pressure to the latter when the component parts of the mounting 11 are clamped together by operating the knob 25 to increase their gripping interengagement.

The post 12 is of tubular form and has, at the end remote from the mounting l l, a flattened spear point 30.

Adjacent to but spaced above the spear point 30 is a transverse plate-like cross member 31 which extends longitudinally of the post 12 and is secured thereto. This plate member 31 is disposed in a plane substantially perpendicular to the spear point, as shown, and it is tapered at its end portion 32 adjacent the point 30. The other, upper, end portion is flanged to provide foot abutments 33. Apertures 34 are provided in the member 31.

A retractable locator 40 is provided for the rod support at the end of the post 12 remote from the point 30. The locator 40 comprises a shaped semaphore arm 41, a bracket 42 embracing the tube 12 and a bolt and wing nut 43 (or captive nut and wing bolt) to clamp the bracket and arm in required positions.

In use, the rod support may be opened up from a storage condition, wherein the boom tubes 13 and 14 are telescoped and stowed alongside the post 12 together with the semaphore arm 41, simply by releasing i.e., partially unscrewing, the knob 25.

The rod support is then set up in position simply by driving the post 12 into the ground 50 (FIG. 3), pointed end first, using the foot abutments 33 if necessary, by extending the boom 10, against its inherent frictional and pneumatic resistance, to the required length, by setting the height of the mounting 11 on the post 12 and swinging the boom up about the shaft 22 until the required angular elevation is reached, and by then tightening up the adjustable mounting by means of the knob 25.

Most fishermen will then usually use the rod support simply by resting the rod 51 in the locator 16 and holding the butt of the rod. However, by releasing and subsequently retightening the wing nut or bolt 43, the arm 41 may be swung out to the horizontal, and the butt 52 of the rod 51 may be rested thereon.

The depth of penetration required for firmly erecting and establishing the post 12 will vary according to the softness of the ground. In hard ground only the point 30 and the tube portion immediately adjacent thereto need be embedded, but in marshy ground the point, tube and the whole of the plate-like member 31, up to the abutments 33, may be embedded to take advantage of the large surface area thereof to provide support which is enhanced by the relative positioning of said plate 31 and point 30.

Finally, if the man is fishing from a hard standing, a vehicle, a pier or other place where embedding of the post is inconvenient or impossible, the plate-like member 31 may be bolted to a support structure above ground, such as, for example, a plate 53 anchored upon a creel 54 at a suitable height, as shown in broken outline in FIG. 3.

The invention is not confined to the precise details of any of the foregoing description and includes many modifications within its scope as defined in the appended claims. For instance, any suitable adjustable coupling may be used which permits at least rotational adjustment, but which can preferably also provide for longitudinal adjustment of the relative positions of post and boom. The cross member or plate like member may be shaped as required, e.g., it may provide the point for the post.

Also more than one extension member or tube may be provided, and the ends of the boom may merely be obstructed by perforate plugs.

The plate-like member may be secured, in use, to any suitable fixed or movable support e.g., a chair, a gunwale, or a railing, by means ofa further plate and bolts, or as required.

Any suitable materials may be used, but aluminum alloy and resilient plastics are preferred for the structural parts and the handle, locators and sleeve, respectively.

I claim:

1. A fishermans rod support comprising:

a. a post adapted to be erected in an upstanding position b. a boom c. rod rest and locating means carried by said boom,

and

d. an adjustable mounting connecting said boom to said post,

e. said adjustable mounting including a mounting shaft, first and second clamp members, and an actuating member,

f. said mounting shaft having a threaded portion and, spaced from the threaded portion, a clamping head which fits upon the post so that the mounting shaft projects laterally therefrom and co-operates with said first clamp member to hold the mounting shaft in adjusted position on said post,

g. said second clamp member being journalled on the mounting shaft intermediate the clamping head and the threaded portion and serving to hold and support the boom on the mounting shaft,

h. said actuating member being threadably engaged with said threaded portion so as to be operable, upon rotation, selectively to increase or decrease gripping inter-engagement of the aforesaid component parts of the adjustable mounting thereby to enable the angular elevation of the boom and height of the mounting on the past to be adjusted and set as required,

. said second clamp member comprises a split collar embracing the boom and having a pair of spaced apart, laterally projecting, first and second limbs provided with a transverse bore in which the mounting shaft is journalled,

j. said limbs being resiliently compressible towards one another by clamping pressure applied by the actuating member in co-operation with the first clamp member thereby to draw the split collar into gripping engagement with the boom and hold said second clamp member in set angular position on the mounting shaft,

k. said first clamp member comprises an axiallymovable tubular sleeve surrounding the clamping head of the mounting shaft and in abutting engagement with said first limb of the second clamp member, and wherein transverse bores are provided in said tubular sleeve and in said clamping head which align substantially co-axially and accommodate the post.

2. A fishermans rod support as defined in claim 1 wherein the transverse bore through said first limb of the second clamp member has a countersunk recess and the sleeve of the first clamp member has an axially projecting frustro-conical protrusion which locates in abutting engagement in said countersunk recess.

3. A fishermans rod support as defined in claim 1, wherein the boom has a telescopic construction and comprises a main tube, an extension tube slidably located in the main tube, a resilient sealing sleeve fitted over the junction of said main tube and extension tube, and closure means at the ends of the boom whereby the interior of said tubes is substantially hermetically sealed so as to provide pneumatic resistance to charge of length of said boom.

4. A fisherrnans rod support as defined in claim 1, wherein the post has a pointed lower end for insertion into the ground and has a longitudinally-extending transverse plate providing a supporting blade adjacent said lower end for use in soft ground. 5. A fishermans rod support as defined in claim 4, wherein the transverse plate has a reinforced upper edge to provide a foot abutment to facilitate driving into ground and has a plurality of apertures to receive fastening devices for alternatively securing the post to a support structure above ground. 6. A fishermans rod support as defined in claim 5, wherein said transverse plate has lower edge portions convergent towards said post and is spaced above the pointed lower end of the post, and, said pointed lower end comprises an axiallyextending flat spear point in substantially perpendicular alignment to the plane of the transverse plate. 7. A fishermans rod support comprising: a. a post adapted to be erected in an upstanding positlon,

b. a boom having a telescopic construction and including a main tube, an extension tube slidably located in the main tube, a resilient sealing sleeve fitted over the junction of said main tube and exten sion tube, and closure means at the ends of the boom whereby the interior of said tubes is substantially hermetically sealed so as to provide pneumatic resistance to change of length of said boom.

c. a rod rest and locating means carried by said boom, and

d. an adjustable mounting connecting said boom to said post,

e. said adjustable mounting including a mounting shaft, first and second clamp members, and an actuating member, said mounting shaft having a threaded portion and, spaced from the threaded portion, a clamping head which fits upon the post so that the mounting shaft projects laterally therefrom and co-operates with said first clamp member to hold the mounting shaft in adjusted position on said post,

g. said second clamp member being journalled on the mounting shaft intermediate the clamping head and the threaded portion and serving to hold and support the boom on the mounting shaft, and

h. said actuating member being threadably engaged with said threaded portion so as to be operable, upon rotation, selectively to increase or decrease gripping inter-engagement of the aforesaid component parts of the adjustable mounting thereby to enable the angular elevation of the boom and height of the mounting on the post to be adjusted and set as required. 

1. A fisherman''s rod support comprising: a. a post adapted to be erected in an upstanding position b. a boom c. rod rest and locating means carried by said boom, and d. an adjustable mounting connecting said boom to said post, e. said adjustable mounting including a mounting shaft, first and second clamp members, and an actuating member, f. said mounting shaft having a threaded portion and, spaced from the threaded portion, a clamping head which fits upon the post so that the mounting shaft projects laterally therefrom and co-operates with said first clamp member to hold the mounting shaft in adjusted position on said post, g. said second clamp member being journalled on the mounting shaft intermediate the clamping head and the threaded portion and serving to hold and support the boom on the mounting shaft, h. said actuating member being threadably engaged with said threaded portion so as to be operable, upon rotation, selectively to increase or decrease gripping inter-engagement of the aforesaid component paRts of the adjustable mounting thereby to enable the angular elevation of the boom and height of the mounting on the past to be adjusted and set as required, i. said second clamp member comprises a split collar embracing the boom and having a pair of spaced apart, laterally projecting, first and second limbs provided with a transverse bore in which the mounting shaft is journalled, j. said limbs being resiliently compressible towards one another by clamping pressure applied by the actuating member in cooperation with the first clamp member thereby to draw the split collar into gripping engagement with the boom and hold said second clamp member in set angular position on the mounting shaft, k. said first clamp member comprises an axially-movable tubular sleeve surrounding the clamping head of the mounting shaft and in abutting engagement with said first limb of the second clamp member, and wherein transverse bores are provided in said tubular sleeve and in said clamping head which align substantially co-axially and accommodate the post.
 2. A fisherman''s rod support as defined in claim 1 wherein the transverse bore through said first limb of the second clamp member has a countersunk recess and the sleeve of the first clamp member has an axially projecting frustro-conical protrusion which locates in abutting engagement in said countersunk recess.
 3. A fisherman''s rod support as defined in claim 1, wherein the boom has a telescopic construction and comprises a main tube, an extension tube slidably located in the main tube, a resilient sealing sleeve fitted over the junction of said main tube and extension tube, and closure means at the ends of the boom whereby the interior of said tubes is substantially hermetically sealed so as to provide pneumatic resistance to charge of length of said boom.
 4. A fisherman''s rod support as defined in claim 1, wherein the post has a pointed lower end for insertion into the ground and has a longitudinally-extending transverse plate providing a supporting blade adjacent said lower end for use in soft ground.
 5. A fisherman''s rod support as defined in claim 4, wherein the transverse plate has a reinforced upper edge to provide a foot abutment to facilitate driving into ground and has a plurality of apertures to receive fastening devices for alternatively securing the post to a support structure above ground.
 6. A fisherman''s rod support as defined in claim 5, wherein said transverse plate has lower edge portions convergent towards said post and is spaced above the pointed lower end of the post, and, said pointed lower end comprises an axially-extending flat spear point in substantially perpendicular alignment to the plane of the transverse plate.
 7. A fisherman''s rod support comprising: a. a post adapted to be erected in an upstanding position, b. a boom having a telescopic construction and including a main tube, an extension tube slidably located in the main tube, a resilient sealing sleeve fitted over the junction of said main tube and extension tube, and closure means at the ends of the boom whereby the interior of said tubes is substantially hermetically sealed so as to provide pneumatic resistance to change of length of said boom. c. a rod rest and locating means carried by said boom, and d. an adjustable mounting connecting said boom to said post, e. said adjustable mounting including a mounting shaft, first and second clamp members, and an actuating member, f. said mounting shaft having a threaded portion and, spaced from the threaded portion, a clamping head which fits upon the post so that the mounting shaft projects laterally therefrom and co-operates with said first clamp member to hold the mounting shaft in adjusted position on said post, g. said second clamp member being journalled on the mounting shaft intermediate the clamping head and the threaded portion and serving to hold and support the boom on the mounting shaft, and h. said actuating member being threadably engaged with said threaded portion so as to be operable, upon rotation, selectively to increase or decrease gripping inter-engagement of the aforesaid component parts of the adjustable mounting thereby to enable the angular elevation of the boom and height of the mounting on the post to be adjusted and set as required. 